My Guardian Angel (18 page)

“Darios, this guy is crazy
,” she snapped.

“I know
,” he said in a serious tone. “But there isn’t anything we can do right now. There is no evidence to help us catch him. He’s fuckin’ smart, that’s for sure. He only attacks when you least expect it,” he seethed.

“Dar, I'm tired
,” I mumbled, my eyes slowly closing. I had cried the whole time. Seeing Jason only made it worse. My eyes hurt and I just wanted to disappear into bed and forget everything. I was scared shitless of a person, a person I didn’t know.

“I don’t think I can finish the book up
, Tiff. I'm just… I'm just too fucked up right now,” I said under my breath.

“Ah
, honey.” She came running and took me in her arms. She held me as I cried.

“I want to sleep
,” I said softly.

“
Okay.” She smiled as she pushed my hair away from my face. “Go upstairs and sleep.”

I left both Darios and Tiffany downstairs. I could hear their quiet concerns as I closed the door behind me.

“I'm glad we can finally be alone, Kassia.” A dark deep voice came across the room.
“Don’t you fuckin’ scream or else I’ll kill your precious Jason.” He moved slowly through the shadows of my room and approached me. “How have you been, my pretty little girl?” he said softly as he reached out and touched my face. The coldness of his touch made my skin crawl.

“Frank?” I said in a panic.

“Follow me and the boy survives. If you scream and I get caught he will be left there to die.” A sinister smile came across his face. He pulled me to the window, which led to the fire escape.

“Fuck
,” I muttered.

“I knew you wouldn’t go quietly.”
He reached up his hand and hit me hard.

That Night

I woke up on the floor in a warehouse full of various boxes. This was the warehouse of the publishing company, which printed my books. I could see the logo on the boxes. I tried to move, but I was tied up tightly around a large column.

“So
, you’re awake I see,” Frank said as he slowly made his way to me.

He was tall and well dressed
in his three-piece suit and leather black gloves. He smiled with his red goatee outlining his lips. I could hardly see the strawberry-colored hair he had since he only had a few candles lit around us.

“Why?”
he asked seemingly upset. “Why wouldn’t you let me help you? Do you have any idea how much I agonized over every word you wrote?” he said as though he was in pain.

“You said I pushed you too hard.
How? I only wanted you to come up with the best book. Your words spoke to me. They sang a song only I COULD HEAR! The words came off the page and created a world that I wish I was a part of. But NO! You wouldn’t let me be a part of it. You wanted it all for yourself. You selfish bitch.” He marched up to me and slapped me hard across my face.

He
peered down at me, licking and biting down on his lips while his face grew angrier as he glared at me.

“So
, I thought fine, you didn’t want to let anyone into your world. You wanted it all to yourself. But then I see that little boy, that fuckin’ little boy. You let him in just like that.” He snapped his fingers. “Like I was NOTHING to you,” he shouted. “Well, now I am someone to you,” he growled.

“Where’s Jason?” I asked frightened at what he had done to him.

“Where’s Jason?” he mocked me and hit me again. “Jason is safe at home, you stupid girl. Now you are mine, to do with as I please,” he bit out.

“What?” I nearly snapped.

“You are so gullible, like you would willingly have come with me. I lied to you, Kassia!”

Relief washed over me. Jason was safe.

“I need you in my life
,” he spouted out. “I need you to write the book which was only meant for me. I want you to create a world where only you and I exist.”

“Thank
God, Jason’s safe,” I said under my breath.

“Thank
God, he’s safe?” he repeated my words and slapped me again. “You should be thinking about me, not Jason!” he shouted.

“
All right! I’ll write your stupid book!” I fought back.

His face contorted and his lips twisted as he sneered at me.
He raised his hand high above and slapped me with the back of it.

“I don’t like your tone
,” he gritted out as he took my collar and shook me. “I hold all the power now. You do what I want now!”

My body
shook, my mind lost in the aftermath of what he would do to me. I was angry, but I was scared, too. Our silent moment was interrupted by the Talking Head’s “Psycho Killer.” The irony wasn’t missed by me or by Frank as he laughed.

“I see your phone is ringing.” He smirked.
He walked over to a small table and picked it up, putting it on speakerphone.

“Kass? Can you hear me? Where the fuck are you?”
Jason yelled on the phone. “KASS!” he shouted.

“Calm down now
, young Jason. You don’t want to upset my author. She is going to start writing soon and you know how writers are with their delicate dispositions,” Frank hissed.

“Where the fuck are you?” Jason’s voice resonated through the phone. “If you lay a fuckin’ finger on her you’re dead! I’ll fuckin’ kill you myself!”

Frank only laughed as he heard the words. “You just try, little boy. However, right now she’s here all alone with me,” he taunted.

“You piece of shit! Don’t you dare touch her!”
Jason’s angry words made me cry. I wanted him to come, but I was afraid of what could happen.

“Try anything and she and I die together
,” Frank warned.

“Let me hear her voice. Let me know she’s
okay!” Jason pleaded.

He sounded so desperate. I could hear his faint sobs.
I wanted to yell out, but Frank pointed at me and picked up a hammer.

“Don’t say anything stupid now
, Kass.” He threw the phone at me.

“Jason?” I said meekly.

“Kassia! Are you all right?” Jason shouted his voice cracking.

“Jason
, I love you. Jason, do you hear me? I love you. I'm okay. Don’t come here!” I yelled out, frightened of what he’d do to him.

“KASS….”

Frank growled and marched towards me and hit me hard.

“KASSIA!” Jason roared again.

Frank picked up the phone and took off the speakerphone.
“Well, I guess I need to teach this girl some manners. Bye, Jason!”

Frank threw the phone across the
warehouse, knelt down before me, and grabbed my hair. He turned my head so I would look at him.

“Now
, bitch, you’re going to learn that I'm the only one in your life,” he growled. I opened my mouth and spat on his face.

“
Screw you!”I said defiantly.

He sucked in his breath
, wiped off his face and stalked off. He left me alone in the warehouse for I don’t even know how long. 

My body ached and my hands were bleeding. I tried to get out of the tie wraps, but I couldn’t. I could feel the deep lesions on my wrists now. Desperation hit and I began to cry.

“Don’t cry.” Frank finally came back
, his face riddled with sadness. “I don’t want to see you cry.” He knelt down and wiped my tears. “I was coming back after I let you cool off. I wanted to teach you a lesson on how to treat me. But seeing you cry makes me feel bad,” he pouted.

“Ah
, well,” he sighed and stood up. “When should we start, my little Kass? I’m really excited about our collaboration.” He smiled. “I want our next story to be great. Don’t you?” he turned and asked me.

I nodded, trying to hold back my tears.

“Good. I’m so happy you’re on the same page as me. You know, I would have had you sooner had it not been for that fuckin’ boy, Jason. I drugged you at the club. Everything was ready, but no, your boy toy Jason with a hero complex had to be there.”

He sat himself down
at the little table he had in front of me and flipped open his laptop. “Now let us forget the past and think about our future. Shall we? I would want you to type this, but I can’t trust you just yet. So you speak the words and I will type for you.” He looked at me and grinned.

I
cried, now knowing the most precious thing, which held me safe all these years would be tainted by this man. The tiny little gift I was given was about to be taken away from me.

“Please…please
, just let me go. I don’t want to write a novel. I don’t want my words corrupted by you,” I sobbed. “Just please leave me alone.”

Frank began to shake and yell at the top of his lungs.
“You will do this!” he snapped. “You will write our story! My story!”

He rose from his chair and
grabbed the hammer that lay on the table.

I cried out and forced my head down trying to avoid him. He began to kick my ribs.
The pain was beyond anything I had felt before.

“It’s your fault I'm hurting you!”
he bit out.

He reached up his arm high above him when I heard a loud bang.
Frank took two steps back and another two loud bangs echoed throughout the warehouse. I could only see white, bright flashes of light weaving in and around us.

Frank moved over to me and collapsed on top of me.
I began to yell and scream, trying desperately to get him off me.

“Kass?” I heard someone say in a panic, but my yelling didn’t stop. “Kassia!”

Three men in SWAT uniforms were beside me. One took the body off me, while the other cut the tie wraps, which held me to the column. The other took off his helmet and reached for me, taking me into his arms and holding me tightly.

“Kass?”
he said in a frightened voice. “Fuck, Kassia.” He pulled me off him and held my face as he searched for my eyes. It was Jason. His beautiful, grey eyes stared back at me. I cried uncontrollably, as the shock and adrenaline pumped through me.

“You’re
okay now. You’re fine. Thank fuckin God.” He breathed a sigh of relief.

“Jason, she’s hurt. The ambulance is waiting outside to take her to the hospital.”
The man who cut my tie wraps said as he held onto Jason’s shoulder and squeezed it. Jason picked me up and carried me out to the gurney. He tried to place me down, but I wouldn’t let go of him.

“It’s
okay, Kass, I’ll come with you. I’m not going anywhere,” he reassured me and I finally let go. He reached over and placed a strand of hair behind my ear. He walked with me to the ambulance, our eyes never wavering.

Why
?

I laid in the hospital with my head pounding and my body broken and bruised, while Jason slept next to me.

Darios was in a panic when I first entered the hospital.
Tiff was beside him crying, but did her best to calm him down. The girls both stood back, Genna in tears as Tara held her. I barely registered anything else. I passed out the moment I arrived at the hospital.

I reached over to touch Jason, but my wrist hurt like hell.
I still tried though. I needed to know he was real and not some kind of dream I had made up to make myself feel better. He stirred and jolted up.

“Kass?” He took my hand and placed it back down. “What are you doing?
You’re hurt,” he fumed.

“I just wanted to touch you
,” I admitted.

He smiled.

“Fine, I’ll touch you instead.” He feathered my cheek and I winced. A low growl emanated from his throat. “I let my fuckin’ guard down and now look at you,” he said gruffly.

“It’s not your fault that Frank did this.” I frowned.

“I promised to protect you. I promised to keep you safe and I couldn’t even do that
,” he hissed. “They’re right when they say I’m nothing but a fuckin’ kid,” he said ruefully.

“Jason…”

“God, Kassia, just look at you. Baby, he hurt you so badly.” He took my hand and held it. My wrist protested, but I still held on.

“How did you find me?” I asked.

“I put a tracking device on your phone. It’s a SWAT thing.” He smiled. “When Darios called and said you were taken, I nearly lost my fuckin’ mind. I took my laptop and dialed it in. I was able to find you. Gab took him out,” he said grimly. “I'm glad the fucker is dead.”

Darios stormed into the room and came to the other side of the bed.
“Fuck Kass, are you okay? Do you want me to a call the doctor?” His worried face prompted my tears.

“I'm sorry
,” I whispered.

“For what?”
he groaned.

“For not being smart about this. For being stupid enough to be taken away by him.
He said he had Jason. I…I was worried…then he hit me and I passed out,” I rambled.

“Shh, it’s
okay, Kass. I'm here and so is Jason and the girls, no one is going to hurt you.” Darios slowly petted my hair, trying to relax me. He reached for me, took me in his arms, and hugged me. I cried out, finally letting out all the fear that was inside me. My big brother’s arms were always a safe place for me.

“I’ve got you
, Kass. I got you,” he kept saying as I cried out.

It took a month for me to get out of the hospital. Broken ribs and a concussion didn’t help, but Jason did. He was there every day and it made all the difference for me. He kept pushing me to get better, calling me old. I had to hand it to him. He knew me well and knew what I needed to get better. He even snuck in a Fair Shake.

“You know this will hit the spot.” I laughed and winked as I took it and drank it.

“Yeah
, I know how much you like it.” He laughed.

“Want a sip?” I asked
, offering him my shake. “Psych!” I pulled it back and slurped it.

Jason only shook his head at me. I shrugged and kept drinking.

“So, Ms. Preston, I hear you’re recovering well,” the doctor said, but stopped short when he saw my shake. “I like the shakes at Shake Shack, too.” He smiled. “I'm here to tell you that you’ll be discharged tomorrow.”

“Are you serious?” I asked
, almost jumping out of my bed.

“Yes.” He shook his head.

“Can’t I go now?” I had grown so fuckin’ tired of not being home and the hospital was the last place on Earth I wanted to be.

“No. Tomorrow only
,” he said sternly.

“Fine!” I relented.

Jason stayed until visiting hours were over. The man had brought a computer version of Tekken and I still kicked his ass.

“You still suck.
Take it home and practice, maybe tomorrow you’ll beat me,” I mocked.

“Yeah
, maybe,” he said as he chuckled.

Tomorrow came and I sat on the gurney waiting for Jason. I felt excited and happy. I couldn’t wait to get home to my life and Jason. So when the door to my room opened and Darios came in with flowers and a big old smile, I knew something was up.

“Well
, little sister, it’s time to take you home,” he said happily.

“What are you talking about? Where’s Jason?” I asked, smiling
and looking around Darios for him.

“Jason isn’t coming. I'm the one who’s going to take you home.” He took my things and held onto my bag.
“Come on, get in the wheelchair. I wonder how much damage I can do to you by the time we get to the car.” He laughed.

“Seriously
, Darios, where’s Jason?” I asked disappointedly. I was hurt he wasn’t here.

“He’s probably working
,” Darios offered.

I
settled in the wheelchair. My disappointment only grew. Darios, however, saw fit to hit every corner he could as he wheeled me down.

“Ah
, sorry,” he said every time, giggling to himself.

“One more time and I swear
, Dar, you’re going to regret it,” I warned. My threat went on deaf ears as he continued to ‘accidently’ bump me into corners.